Title B-BallFreeThrowShots

Broad Question
What style of shot works best?

Specific Question

Which free throw shot style will have the highest percentage of baskets made?

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that the granny shot will get the highest percentage of baskets made.

Graph of Hypothesis

Hypothesis Graph

Variables

Independent Variable: Different types of basketball shots.

Dependent Variable: The percentages of shots.

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

1 same ball
2 same hoop
3 same gym
4 same height of hoop
5 same distance from hoop
6 same types of shots
7 same gender
8 same age group(13-14)
9 same grade
10 same footwear(sneakers)

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

B-ball = basketball
Free throw = when fouled chance of wide open shot one point
Granny shot = two handed underhand shot
Hook shot = shot over the shoulder
Backwards shot = shot when facing the other way
One handed shot = a shot with one hand

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General Plan

Potential Problems And Solutions

Pulled muscles, go to a doctor, people who don't know how to play, teach them,

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

Pulled muscles, rolled ankle,

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)
An experiment was conducted on which type of free throw shot would be the most accurate. Before the experiment 5 7th grade students who would be in the experiment were chosen. I took all 5 people down to the gym at once and had them take their shots (they each took 10 shots of each type at a time,) I tallied each shot that they made. I collected the data and put it into a spreadsheet in google documents, I found the mean for each shooter. The mean for each type of shot was compared to see if one type of shot had the highest percentage of shots made.

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Basketball	1	The gym	$0.00
Clipboard	1	Mr Yahna's Room	$0.00
Pencil	1	My binder	$0.00
Hoop	1	The gym	$0.00
People	5	The school	$0.00

Detailed Procedure

1. Gather supplies needed, (notebook to put table in, pencil, video camera, basketball, pump, air needle, pressure gauge, adult to supervise, script).
2. Talk to Mr. Pickering to figure out time to use gym, and ask to use basketballs.
3. Gather 5 seventh graders. Find someone to take pictures and videos during the experiment.
4. Make a table to record the data of different shot percentages.
5. Bring shooters and photographer down to gym.
6. Read out loud instructions of what to do from script
7. Demonstrate granny shot to all subjects. Have first subject shoot ten granny shots, tally the shots made. Have the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, all take their granny shots and then move on to the one handed shots. Repeat until everyone has done each type of shot.
8. Once all tallies marked, turn them into percents.Ex/ Four tally marks would mean they made 4 out of 10 shots in, 40%.
9. Gather all percentages and record on data table and graphs.Gather all pictures and videos and choose which ones to use.

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Data Table

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Data Analysis

Graphs

Photos

Granny Shot In the process Hook Shot In the process of shooting

of shooting

Results

The average number of free throw shots made using a granny shot was 12%. The average number of free throw shots made using the hook shot was 8%. The average number of free throw shots made using the backwards shot was 6%. The average number of free throw shots made using the one handed shot was 6%. The granny shot was the most accurate style of free throw shots.

Conclusion

This experiment was tested to see which free throw shot would have the highest percentage of baskets made. The shot that had the highest percentage of baskets made was the granny shot. The backwards shot and the one handed shot had the least percentage of baskets made. The answer to the experiment question was the granny shot. The granny shot had the highest percentage out of all 4 shots. The granny shot made 12%, the hook shot made 8%, the backwards shot made 6%, and the one handed shot made 6%.

Discussion

The experiment question was which style of basketball free throw shots would get the highest percentage of baskets made. The answer to my question was the granny shot. I had hypothesized that the granny shot would work best. The granny shot was supported by the results. The granny shot had 12 %, the hook shot had 8 %, the one handed shot had 6 %, and the backwards shot had 6 %. One pattern that I saw was that the backwards shot had the same percentage as the one handed shot.
There have not been many other experiments like this one. Back in the old days some NBA use to take granny shots. My plan was to test 16 subjects, but unfortunately it was hard to get gym time. I ended only using 5 test subjects in my experiment. In the experiment I used some, but little technology. I used an Ipad to take pictures and videos. Some kids taking free throw shots don’t always have the best accuracy. This experiment could help them take other shots that might help them have better accuracy when shooting. I have only used 4 different types of shots. Other experiments could test other types of shots. I think that there could be lots of other shots that may be better than the granny shot. I had lots of data. The granny shot ended up working the best. I had hypothesized that it would work best. The backwards shot and the one handed shot worked the least best. The hook shot worked the second best.
I saw that the backwards shot and one handed shot had the same percentage. They both had 6%.I think the results happened for different reasons. I think for most people taking a granny shot seems more natural. More natural than a shot over the shoulder, a backwards shot, or a shot with one hand. During this experiment lots of problems occurred. I was supposed to have 16 test subjects, but I was running out of time. I was starting to run out of time, I should have tested the subjects sooner. Also it was hard to find time to use the gym. Lots of times it was being used. The only technology I used was the Ipad. I used the Ipad to take pictures and to take videos. This experiment could help people having trouble taking a regular shot. You could use one of these types of shots to use when taking a free throw. Other people that may test this could find new things. Their results could be different and also use different types of shots. Many other things could be learned through this experiment.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

This experiment will help kids with their free throw shots. If they don't like shooting the normal way, they can use these 4 types of styles. Then they will be able to see which shot would work the best.

Background Research

What percentages of free throw shots made for different types of basketball shots?

Highest percentage-Steve Nash-90%


FTM-2,946 FTA-3,259


NBA Average-70-80% made


Sindey Spencer-made 67-73



Sindey’s Average-91%


Rick Barry - known for granny shot


Rick Barry 14 years


Rick Barry made 90% of underhand shots(granny shot)


Underhand shot common until 1950’s

References

"Free throw - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_throw>.


Dorish, Joe . "Players with best free throw shooting percentages in WNBA history - WNBA - Yahoo! Sports." Yahoo! Sports - Sports News, Scores, Rumors, Fantasy Games, and more. Yahoo, 27 Sept. 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://sports.yahoo.com/wnba/news?slug=ycn-9374095>.

"NBA.com ." NBA.com. NBA, 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nba.com/statistics/default_all_time_leaders/AllTimeLeadersFTPQuery.html?top>.

"2012-13 Regular Season NBA Player Stats and League Leaders - Free-Throws - National Basketball Association - ESPN."ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. ESPN, 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/free-throws/sort/freeThrowPct>.

ChaCha. "What famous NBA player shot free throws granny style his entire career? | ChaCha." Questions & Answers | ChaCha. ChaCha, 7 Jan. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.chacha.com/question/what-famous-nba-player-shot-free-throws-granny-style-his-entire-career>.

"Shooting for perfection: Basketball legend Rick Barry was virtually flawless shooting the underhand free throw. Why won’t anyone give it a try? - SBNation.com." Sports News, Scores and Fan Opinion Powered by 310 Sports Blogs. SBNation, 15 Dec. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2012/12/13/3758698/rick-barry-underhand-free-throw-nba>.

Abstract

ABSTRACT
An experiment was conducted to see which types of free throw shots would get the highest percentage of baskets made. The hypothesis was that the granny shot would get the highest percentage out of the four types of shots. The four different types of shots were the granny shot, hook shot, backwards shot, and one handed shot. The hypothesis was supported, the granny shot got 12% of baskets made. The hook shot got 8%, the backwards shot and the one handed shot both got 6%. The granny shot got the highest percentage of baskets made.